You've reached the Virginia Cooperative Extension Newsletter Archive.
These files cover more than ten years of newsletters posted on our old website
(through April/May 2009), and are provided for historical purposes only.
As such, they may contain out-of-date references and broken links.

Annual tax preparation time is near, motivating
many businesses to make an evaluation
of the previous year’s performance. The
schedule F review satisfies the government,
but often does not provide individuals a good
summary of the performance of their operation
during the last calendar year.

Success is measured in many ways. For
example, my version
of a successful milking
is one in which
no cow defecates in
the parlor. It doesn’t
happen very often
and the cost benefits
of it are pretty darn negligible, but it sure
makes me happy!

Despite the fact
that we are all motivated
to milk cows
for different reasons,
no farm is able to
perpetuate itself in
an absence of money—which is why
the upcoming programs
will be of interest
to the dairy
producer.
• The Dairy Management Institute is a 2
day program that offers an in-depth lookat several financial measures of dairy farm
profitability. Financial data derived from
the Schedule F form, coupled with the milk
check summary and some basic farm records
are compiled and analyzed. Participants
will receive their analysis along with
group averages. All individual herd information
will be confidential. Dairy Management
Institute will be conducted during the
months of February and March.
• The Shenandoah Valley Grazing Dairy
Group is presenting an informational
meeting on Profit Drivers for Grass Based
Dairy Farms on February 14th at Mrs.
Rowes (formerly Evers) in Mt Crawford.
Neil Lane, a representative with Intelact in
Australia will discuss a similar program
used in New Zealand to specifically
analyze the profitability and efficiency of
grazing dairies.

If you are interested in learning more about
either of these educational opportunities, contact
Tina Horn – VCE Augusta (540) 245-5750
or myself – VCE Rockingham (540) 564-3080.